ELLA QUICK

EVEN HEROES NEED APPRECIATING

So I was on holiday, getting a couple of weeks of early

THE TOUGHEST DAY OF OUR LIVES

A small team of riders attempt a highaltitude, multi-day Karakoram loop in the shadow of the world’s greatest mountains.

THE TRAIN FROM TINTO HILL

Sanny and Dave gamble on the vagaries of the Sunday rail service timetable as they go on a one-way adventure to Tinto Hill. Would they make it or would it be the 45-mile ride of despair back in the cold and dark of a short January day?

DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT

In this new feature the team reviews the products that we need on every ride, no matter what style of riding we’re doing. This issue we check out the tools that are in our packs, pockets and pouches.

JASON MILES IDIOTS.

‘Bless the idiots’ reckons Jason as he sides with the people who occasionally need a helping hand on the hills.

PEELING THE ORANGE

Chipps tries to get a word in edgeways with Ash Ball, the owner of Orange Bikes and someone most people have never heard of. Which is just the way he likes it.

BENNACHIE BASH

A classic ride in the wide open spaces in the middle of Aberdeenshire.

FIRST FAST HARDTAILS

Self-confessed race-addict Jason Miles looks at three carbon hardtails eager to speed with you between the course tapes.

CATCH MY DRIFT?

In which your intrepid reporter attempts to get to the bottom of certain mountain biking vernacular using the ancient arts of Flannelling and Hand Waving.

ADVENTURING OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Sanny, Dave and Graham head off into the lesser-known mountains of Switzerland and Italy in search of an uncommon adventure.

JUST GO AND GET LOST!

Hannah’s quirky idea for a bike-riding birthday party shows up some gaping holes in the trail knowledge of her peers.

FIRE AND WATER

Climb and descend, tech and flow, Chipps looks at the contrasts that make up the mountain bike world in a ride from the Lakes Distillery, Cumbria’s only whisky distillery.

PERFORATED HINGES

Amanda suffers a mountain bike scar, but it’s not one she’ll show you in the pub.